Netflix’s CFB Series, ‘Last Chance U’ Now Has A Trailer

If you’ve never heard of East Mississippi Community College, you’re perfectly fine. The school has won three of the last five JUCO national championships in college football, produced former Ole Miss starters Bo Wallace, Chad Kelly and current NFLers such as LeGarrette Blount and DJ Pettway. In the land of college football, EMCC is seen as the JUCO reform school and has earned the nickname Last Chance U because JUCO is the last shot for any college football player looking to jump back into a D1 school after falling off for a wide number of reasons.

Last season, Netflix sent a camera crew down to East Mississippi Community College to film a documentary. The streaming service’s first stand-alone sports documentary chronicles the players and coaches of the program from the dorm to the classroom and on the field. It’s fittingly called Last Chance U and all six-episodes will air on July 29th. Here’s the debut trailer below.

It’s unprecedented access for Netflix and their camera crews. One scene finds a coach cursing out a cameraman for filming him, another finds a coach locking himself in an equipment room to avoid cameras. One player spends time celebrating with his teammates before breaking quickly towards a camera to preen and celebrate some more.

“We make that a prerequisite, that we get that kind of access,” Greg Whiteley, the Emmy-nominated director and executive producer of Last Chance U says. “There are a lot of shows that promise behind-the-scenes access, but not in the way that we’re used to delivering. One of the reasons that we chose EMCC was they said, “Yeah, we can’t think of anything where we’re not gonna allow you to be.’”

One of the big storylines that emerged from the 2015 EMCC season was The Brawl, a huge fight between East Mississippi and Mississippi Delta which was sparked by a Mississippi Delta player punching an athletic trainer from East Mississippi and then star player D.J. Law being stomped and kicked on the Mississippi Delta sideline. The game was called off after the violent fight and disqualified EMCC from the playoffs; ending their shot at a fourth straight national championship. The brawl, at least from Last Chance U‘s perspective makes it appear that months if not years of frustration boiled over into the fight.

The student-athletes East Mississppi take in eventually go on to be lauded recruits such as Auburn’s John Franklin III and Law. Others spent time in the headlines for nefarious reasons such as former Florida State QB De’Andre Johnson who was kicked off the FSU squad last season for punching a woman in a bar. The thing about EMCC is that every player who winds up there has the intent desire to leave and eventually make it back to a Division 1 program and hopefully, the NFL.

“If football ain’t for you, go find another damn school to go to,” head coach Buddy Stephens says.

About The Author

Brandon Caldwell is the founder & editor-in-chief of Day & A Dream. His work has appeared in VIBE, UPROXX, Complex, EBONY, the Village Voice, the Houston Press, Houston Style Magazine, DJBooth, The Sports Fans Journal, and more. Follow him on Twitter: @_brandoc